The invention concerns the reduction of rim chafing in large, heavy load tires or Off-The-Road tires of radial construction that are used in heavily loaded vehicles. The lower sidewall of a typical radial OTR construction consists of a ply around the bead and chipper reinforcements that restrict the circumferential deformation of the ply. Under heavy load, the lower sidewall of the tire bends over the rim flange, and the ply reinforcement rotates in the circumferential direction. The severe deformation results in high ply cord compression in the turnup near the rim flange region, and high in-plane shear strains in the turn-up pad. The deformation also results in rubbing of the chafer against the rim flange, resulting in wear of both the tire and rim. Chafing can be minimized by using reinforcements in the lower sidewall, but this reduction is not very significant. Thus it is desired to have an improved tire design to reduce the chafing of the tire against the rim.